1. Technical Field
This disclosure generally relates to woodworking tools, and more specifically relates to a fence for a miter box.
2. Background Art
Miter boxes have been used for many years by finish carpenters. A miter box allows a finish carpenter to cut angled cuts that provide attractive joints for a variety of different finishing work, such as window and door casings, baseboard, and crown molding. Cutting crown molding presents a unique challenge because crown molding is installed at an angle with respect to the wall and ceiling. As a result, cutting a traditional 45 degree angle in crown molding requires a compound miter cut, which means the saw blade is typically set at a first angle (such as 45 degrees) with respect to the miter box fence, and the blade is then tilted at an appropriate angle. Compound miter cuts create unique challenges for the finish carpenter for a variety of reasons. First, because crown moldings are made to be installed at different angles, a different compound miter cut must be used for each different angle of crown molding. For example, crown moldings that have a designed angle with respect to the wall of 38 degrees, 45 degrees, and 52 degrees are common. To make an appropriate compound miter cut, the finish carpenter must first determine the appropriate angle of the crown molding being used, then use a table that converts the angle of the crown molding to an appropriate blade tilt on the miter saw. Another challenge to cutting crown molding is the molding is laid flat and pressed against the fence, which is not representative of how it is installed. As a result, it is easy to get confused regarding which direction the cut needs to go, and whether the top or bottom of the crown molding is held against the fence.
Several devices have addressed some of the problems in cutting crown molding by providing various ways to hold crown molding at an angle while cutting, which eliminates the need for performing compound miter cuts. For example, if a 45 degree crown molding is held at a 45 degree angle instead of being held flat, a single miter cut is all that is needed instead of a compound miter cut. These devices can be classified as two separate types. The first type is a device separate from the miter saw that holds the crown molding at an angle while the saw cuts the crown molding. Examples of these are show in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,481,320, D557,296 and D640,112. The second type is a fence system for a miter saw that provides stops on the horizontal part of the fence that allow placing crown molding between the stops and the vertical part of the fence at the appropriate angle. Examples of these are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 346,240, 752,406, 3,397,722, 4,875,399 and 7,726,224. Both of these types hold the crown molding at the appropriate angle while cutting, thereby eliminating one of the angles needed during the cut. This allows crown molding to be cut with a miter saw using simple miter cuts instead of using compound miter cuts.
One drawback of the second type of devices discussed above is the stops for the crown molding are placed on top of the flat surface of the fence. If the finish carpenter then needs to use the miter box for cutting flat stock such as a door casing, the device used to cut the crown molding must be removed. What is needed is a miter box fence system that allows cutting crown molding and that allows cutting flat stock without modification of the fence system.